I have a 2011 pa. I'm trying to put a trolling motor in the mirage drive. So far, I've only been able to fit a watersnake 18 thrust motor in the mirage drive. I want a bigger motor to go faster. I tried a watersnake 30 thrust motor and it did not fit in the mirage drive.

Has anyone had any luck with fitting any other brand 30 thrust motor in the mirage drive?

All of the Watersnake, Sevylor and Motor Guide products are the same, made in the orient by the same company. As such, power for power, all have the same size motors. None of the 30lb thrust motors, including Minn Kota, have a motor small enough to fit through the mirage drive well. Sorry.

One thing though - a more powerful motor won't necessarily make you go any faster. None of these motors is the least bit taxed pushing something as light as our kayaks - they were designed with very shallow pitch props for pushing boats that weigh many hundreds, even thousands, of pounds. So, a bigger motor turning the prop at the same speed as the smaller motor gains you nothing. You just burn up your battery more quickly.

I do have some experience with the little 18lb thrust Watersnake however, and due to the very small prop you will find that the 30lb motors, mostly due to the much larger prop they're fitted with, will propel you about a single mile per hour faster than the little Watersnake does. But the motor head will still not fit through the Mirage Drive.

3.5 MPH with the 18lb Watersnake on high is about right. With the larger motors (30lb or 40lb, doesn't matter which as you only have a couple prop choices) you could expect to run 4 to 4.3 MPH.

I've been working with a buddy who is planning to run a trolling motor on his PA and have developed a 4-blade, adjustable pitch prop for him. I'll know how that works out in a few weeks. Any of these motors, 30lb and above, could push the PA well upwards of 5 MPH, provided you can get more pitch on the prop.

I have a 2011 pa. I'm trying to put a trolling motor in the mirage drive. So far, I've only been able to fit a watersnake 18 thrust motor in the mirage drive. I want a bigger motor to go faster. I tried a watersnake 30 thrust motor and it did not fit in the mirage drive.

Has anyone had any luck with fitting any other brand 30 thrust motor in the mirage drive?

I have the minnkota 30 fit in my drive just fine. All I have to do is be sure to line up the prop when removing it.

In order to get it to drop into the hole is to tip so the head is on the seat and the prop is almost straight down into the hole.

I modified my motor; took the head off and wired to a PWM. (It switches on and off the 12 volts very fast and adjusts the time between how long the on pulse is to the off pulse to control prop speed.) Then I mounted the trim pot for the PCM to my tiller handle on top, where the bolt goes through. I shortened the motor shaft so it's no taller than the mirage drive when that's installed. It fits in the front hatch and I can change between the trolling motor and the paddle drive in maybe 5 minutes while on the water. I usually troll with the motor, or use it to cross longer distances to a fishing spot, then use the paddle drive to maneuver around. I used the drive hole plug cassette to mount my motor to the hole using PVC and some slip fittings. I don't have access to my photo host while at work, but I'll post photos later.

Oh, the Minnkota motor can be found on sale occasionally or with rebate coupons. I paid $80 total for mine and maybe $26 for the PWM and mounted that on the battery. Battery goes inside the hull under the seat through the tackle box hole.

Very nice SkiPro3. What battery do you use? What tackle hole does the battery go through? Is it under the cutting board or through the rear hatch? Where did you get your PWM for such a cheap price? Do you have a part number? My buddy wants to convert his 5 speed to a variable speed.

I have an I-Pilot bow mount that fits through my mirage drivewell that I have previously posted. Here is the video of how it fits.